Any believer is deeply aware of their sins, failures, and shortcomings. It is easy to live with a sense of unworthiness before God (which is not necessarily a bad thing), but often this sense of unworthiness makes us feel separated from God and his acceptance. However, the reality is that God’s ongoing acceptance of us is because he continues to treat us as we are in Christ. God’s grace sustains our spiritual life. It is God’s grace that ensures our ongoing peace with God, and it is that peace that allows us to live in fellowship with him.
We must encourage one another, by our words and our actions, to understand that God accepts us in Christ by his grace; because of his grace we have peace with him. As we breathe the atmosphere of grace and peace we will experience his power at work in us, transforming us into the image of Christ.
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.